I then investigated certain parts of the law that I had only quickly passed by in my previous studies of the scriptures. The first chapter that brings into view many things I was not currently observing was Leviticus chapter 23. This is a chapter full of commandments, prophecy and beautiful shadow pictures of the past and future of this earth. This chapter outlines the observances, Sabbath, feasts and festivals of The LORD (More on the use of The LORD later). It is repeated throughout the chapter that these observances or memorials are to be kept עוֹלָם֙ a Hebrew word 'olam' meaning forever. The scriptures teach that God is unchanging, so if He said we are to keep these observances forever, I think He meant FOREVER! (see Psalms 89:34, Malachi 3:6, 2 Nephi 27:23, 2 Nephi 29:9, Mormon 9:9)
Learning this, created great turmoil in my life. Traditionally, in the Mormon Church, you celebrate the holidays of Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. Ask anyone in my family about my observance of Christmas and they will tell you I would blast Christmas music as soon as it would show up on the radio station in November! Christmas tree was, if available, cut by myself and dragged out of the forest and erected usually the weekend following Thanksgiving. A family tradition was playing secret Santa and giving gifts to the less fortunate and sometimes even being caught by the police in the process. Yes, they were good memories for the most part. Christmas truly was my favorite Holiday.
But after learning about the Feast and Festivals of The LORD (I can't wait to stop using this phrase, but keep reading to find out why), I began looking into what these traditional holidays were REALLY all about and it was very eye opening to say the least. Valentine's Day is a pagan fertility festival of Lupercalia dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. Easter is another fertility celebration of the Anglo Saxon goddess Eastra. I won't get into the gory details, but it was a more modern pagan celebration similar to the worship of Molek. Halloween is the Gaelic festival of Samhain (pronounced "sow-win") which is basically a celebration of the dead, in fact in Spanish it is called Día de Muertos or day of the dead. The Church of Satan considers Halloween the third highest day on their calendar! Christmas is the great imitation that the adversary has capitalized on. In recent times it was the celebration of dies solis invicti nati ("day of the birth of the unconquered sun"). In earlier times it was the celebration of the birth of Tamuz the son of the Sun God Baal (remember him in the scriptures?), interesting how Satan wants to imitate the divine, but adds his own little twist. One Christmas tradition is the erection of the Christmas tree representing a phallic symbol. This practice God has actually commented on thus:
10 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. (Jeremiah 10:1-6)
Even with this evidence that we should not learn the ways of the heathen, the change I faced was a very difficult one. The LORD through Joseph Smith stated, "upheld by the influence of that spirit which hath so strongly riveted the creeds of the fathers, who have inherited lies, upon the hearts of the children" (D&C 123:7) We learn from this that the traditions of our fathers are riveted to our hearts and rivets are very difficult to remove. Screws can be removed with a screwdriver, nails can be removed with a hammer, but the only way to remove a rivet is to destroy the rivet itself. Eventually, it came to this question, "Do I worship God the way I want to or do I worship God the way He wants me to?" When looking at it from this perspective, the decision was simple and I took the approach, I will test the LORD and keep the feasts and festivals for a year and see how it goes. This was more than three years ago, and I am overwhelmed with the beauty and deep spiritual significance of the feasts and festivals. They are truly better than the wicked traditions of my fathers.
On the other hand, in times past I would make witch's brew, homemade root beer using dry ice, for the Ward Halloween party. I even went so far as to dress as a witch and had quite an evil cackle. As I began learning about the feasts and festivals I put away the costume, laugh and no longer called the root beer witch's brew. The last year I participated I was actually not going to, but I was asked directly by the Primary President so I relented. I was in great shock when the lights in the cultural hall were turned off and the youth began dancing and singing to Michael Jackson's song Thriller! I was literally sick to my stomach and vowed NEVER to participate in such a display of evil again. I then had to put these supposed holidays on the "shelf." This was not too difficult as I discovered that BYU held a Passover Seder every year.
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My Israel
आध्यात्मिकI was moved to write this story in an effort to educate people about God, His laws and how it caused me to separate myself from a religion I practiced for nearly 40 years. I also hope to inspire others to gain an interest and perhaps, as I have obt...
